Social media and loneliness

It sounds like the (negative) impacts of social media include loneliness. This think tank report reviews the evidence for Malaysia.

From the executive summary:

For adolescents today, finding acceptance and belonging has become more fraught due to social media, which exponentially raises the stakes of social missteps. Social media’s shift away from encouraging interactions among friends towards feeding users with content from strangers further exacerbates social disconnection. This content-first approach, coupled with addictive design choices, promotes compulsive and passive consumption – precisely the kind of social media use that contributes to loneliness. However, even active use is increasingly linked to loneliness.

The report also looks at ai companions and loneliness. Have a read!